DC Universe: CIVIL WAR
by Batscribe29
Summary: After an impulsive move from a Justice League member causes the death of a colleague and wide-scale damage in Washington DC, the governments of the world put in place a system to ensure the Justice League always 'make the right choice'. Splitting into factions, the heroes of the world fight against each other to prove they are the ones on the right side. WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
1. Chapter 1: The Push

_A/N Say hello to my summer project! With my academic schedule this year running to a close soon, I thought I'd go and start up a new story. This is again focussed around the Justice League, but the way I'm going to take the characters means there may be a bit of OOC stuff depending on your personal ideas of the characters. As always, please leave a review, I love hearing what people think!_

' _ **We are not going to achieve a new world order without paying for it in blood as well as words and money' – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.**_

 **Washington DC. The Capitol Building.** Newly sworn-in President Alexander Luthor Jr. gives an address broadcasted to the entire globe.

"My fellow Americans, people of the world, today is a day that should embody the concept of _security_. With the recent tragic events on American soil, we were given an all too bitter reminder that no-one is above the law, not even the Justice League. Their members have been left unchecked for so long and now we finally see the results of such a poor judgement call."

Luthor cracked a small smile. "However, I am pleased to announce that these much needed regulations are here. Effective immediately, all 'heroes' are to report to the Office of Meta-Human Regulation for briefing on the new laws. We will not let those with extra-ordinary abilities run rampant in our cities, endangering civilians with their recklessness. Now, I'd like to invite someone who will be the first to join this new Executive Office, Batman." Luthor stood aside, smiling triumphantly as Batman, with his ever-present stern expression, stepped in front of the camera.

"For too long the Justice League hasn't had any failsafe. We've just been _trusted_ to do our job. Not only does the Office of Meta-Human Regulation have rules we must follow, but has contingency plans to bring them down in the event that they start endangering innocent lives. We will not allow the people of the world to suffer as _collateral damage_. You need to be safe, you need to be protected, but you also need to know who's protecting you, which is why I'm standing before you today."

 **5 MONTHS EARLIER**

"This is Lois Lane, reporting live from the Washington Memorial. It is absolute chaos here; Laser beams are flying through the…" She ducked to avoid a hulking body falling through the air. "It looks like the Justice League is winning against Darkseid's parademons, they seem to be forcing a retreat. Look, there's Wonder Woman!"

Wonder Woman pounced on the parademon as it landed on the grass. It raised its weapon but not before she landed a thunderous blow to its temple, knocking its head sideways and smashing it on the ground. She stood up, gave a modest nod to Lois and flew back into the air.

"Situation report?" Wonder Woman said, pressing the com-link in her ear.

"We're handling it," said Batman, dodging a laser blast from three parademons at once. "Flash and I have the ground forces from the east, Lantern and J'onn have the south and you and the others take the main forces closing in around the White House."

"Understood" she replied, turning north towards the presidential residence. She landed just inside the perimeter set-up around the building by the National Guard, backed up by several other Justice League members.

"Wonder Woman!" General Luceno shouted, beckoning her over. "We may be pushing them back but we're still severely outnumbered should they out-manoeuvre us." He made a vague gesture around the army's position on a map in front of him. She looked around, surveying the carnage.

"Kal, you done yet?" she said into her com-link.

"Yeah, Darkseid's back on Apokolips, just need to get rid of the mothership over DC and it'll be over. I'm on my way now." Superman replied as he passed Saturn.

Back in Washington, the rest of the Justice League had regrouped on the gardens of the White House, fighting off the hordes of parademons flying through their boom-tube portals transporting them from Apokolips. Batman had stepped back to check on _Plan B._

"We need to get these things away from the city. Cyborg, if you can't stop them entirely, can you at least move them?" he said. Cyborg, who stood beside General Luceno, tightened his lips.

"I'm trying, it'll be hard to move them quickly, but I can get them away from the White House in t-minus 2 minutes."

"It's a start" Batman replied, turned back towards the confrontation. "Clark, get your ass here." Superman entered the atmosphere with a deafening noise that was soon cancelled out by the crash he made as he swept through the hordes of parademons pouring into Washington. "Shazam, back up Superman" Batman said, as he parried the punch of a passing parademon.

"You mean I get to be on the front line? Finally!" Shazam, one of the league's newest members, left Nightwing and Black Canary to deal with crowd control and sped towards Superman.

"Batman," Cyborg said, straining. "I'm getting a lot of resistance here, their firewalls are fighting back."

"I'll send in some back-up for you" he replied, pressing buttons on his wrist computer.

In a WayneTech building just outside the danger zone, Oracle and Red Robin were sitting in front of computers scanning the battlefield and reporting to the rest of the league members. Batman's face popped up on their screens.

"What's up, boss?" chirped Oracle, strikingly happy considering the circumstances.

"I need you to back up Cyborg, their technological defences are giving him trouble. Tim, I need you with me now."

"Got it" they both said together.

Meanwhile, Superman and Shazam were finally starting to work their way through the horde, thinning the herd enough to build a stable perimeter around the White House.

"This is so much fun, dude, we should do this more often!" Shazam said, laughing as he bulldozed a dozen parademons.

"So you're saying you think the world should be in this kind of trouble more often?" Superman said, as Shazam skimmed past him.

"Uh…okay maybe you're right, but we should totally hang out!"

"Totally." The sarcasm practically radiated from Superman as he stepped back to assess the situation again.

"Good news, guys," came Cyborg's voice over the communicator, "Their firewall is down and I'm in. Should be able to close these boom-tubes in no time." Flash came sprinting over to Cyborg, now joined by Batman, who seemed to have been taking out a fair share of Darkseid's forces himself. "Nearly there" Cyborg shouted, as a fizzling noise echoed through the capital.

"Keep going, Cy" Flash said, raising a hand to pat him on the back, "Darkseid can…WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" A monstrous ship, which had passed through the boom-tube, made its way over their heads and towards Superman, Shazam and the White House.

"Superman!" Batman shouted into his earpiece, "Incoming, we've got…" Without notice, the ship started spewing out parademons. Many, many more parademons.

"What the f…" Batman raised his hand to interrupt Flash.

"Put it this way, what we've been fighting so far was the hors d'oevres. Consider _that_ ," he pointed to the ship, "…to be the main course." Cyborg once again turned to his computer and started to scan the ship's specifications. Wonder Woman, J'onn and Green Lantern flew towards the ship to help Superman and Shazam. Batman, however, turned away and pressed his communicator. "Tim, where are you?"

"There's a few parademons attacking the crowds outside our bunker. I got them, don't worry. I can handle myself."

"Fine, but I want you here as soon as it's contained. Darkseid just pulled his big gun out before we close the tubes."

Things at the White House were getting worse. With all the heroes on the front line they were still struggling.

"Is there any way we can shift that thing?" Green Lantern said, "At least away from the major civilian areas?"

"I don't know, Hal. But we're doing ok so far." Superman replied. Shazam, however, didn't think so.

He electrified 10 parademons in his area and they fell to the floor.

"That's more like…" Shunted forward, he turned around to see 15 more behind him, bearing all manner of Apokoliptian weapons. They all pounced on him together. Wonder Woman flew over to help before an explosion sent them all away. "I've had enough of this. We need to take them out from the source." Shazam shot up and headed towards the ship high above them. A stunned Superman looked up in dismay.

"Billy! DON'T!" he shouted. Shazam broke the sound barrier with an almighty crack as he sped up even further. Superman shot up to follow him, beating off parademons with both hands.

"Shazam!" Batman shouted into his communicator, "fall back! That's an order."

Charging himself with electricity, Shazam broke through the shield surrounding the ship and smashed through the hull. The air pressure change inside the ship sucked all the air out and it started to cave in on itself.

"BILLY!" Superman shouted, racing even faster. He came within 300 meters of the ship when the fuel cells ruptured and exploded. The shockwave knocked Superman back, sending him flying towards the ground. The parademons all started to shriek and retreat towards the nearest boom-tube.

As Superman regained consciousness, he steadied himself in the air and saw the wrecked ship hurtling downwards and raced after it.

"EVERYBODY, GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" shouted Batman. Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter leapt up to meet him, whilst Green Lantern ferried the rest away to safety.

Superman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter all arrived at the bottom of the ship, but as they tried to catch it together, it took them down with it.

"Apokoliptian metals are heavier I take it" Wonder Woman winced. It felt like all the nerve endings in her body were on fire as she pushed with every ounce of her strength to no avail. The ship was getting closer and closer to the ground.

"We can't stop it" J'onn said, "It's too heavy." Superman looked around.

"Yes we can" Superman said. He flew further down, faster than the falling ship, then shot up and pierced the hull, moving through it. Suddenly, red lasers came shooting out of the ship, breaking it into smaller pieces. As the ship fell apart, Green Lantern flew up to help collect the wreckage. Superman appeared through the smoke, looking to help collect more falling debris, until he saw Shazam's body, clinging to a falling plank of metal and he wasn't moving.

As most of the ship's debris was collected, several unaccounted fragments hit the floor. One taking out an AmerTech building to the south, another plunging a great hole into the road. A third, far larger piece landed on the White House roof, caving it in.

Superman and Wonder Woman caught Shazam and brought him safely to the ground.

"Billy" Wonder Woman said, cradling his head. Superman used his X-Ray vision to check Shazam's vital signs. The rest of the league members started to group around them, oblivious to the chaos around them. "There's no heartbeat."

"Oh man" Flash said, taking a step back and trying to compose himself. Standing behind Flash, Batman's head shot up, alert and looking around. He suddenly realised: _Tim isn't here._

"Red Robin, come in?" He said into his communicator. No response. "Tim, are you there?" No response. "TIM!" he shouted louder. No response. "Oracle where is Red Robin?"

"We got hit by some of that ship, boss. Our set-up is totalled but I'm fine." she replied.

"IS TIM WITH YOU?" Batman said, he started looking over towards Oracle's location frantically.

"No, he went out to join you didn't he?" Batman started walking over towards Oracle's base.

"Alfred, get up Red Robin's GPS co-ordinates." His walk accelerated into a run.

"Right away, sir." Batman started leaping over the wrecked landscape, jumping over crushed cars and smouldering metal. He stopped on top of a mound of rubble, laden with civilians who hadn't made it out in time.

"Alfred?" He said, frantically.

"Sir," the tremble in Alfred's voice grew, "He should be, oh my…" During the pause that followed, Batman's stomach dropped as he saw a red glove poking out from the rubble. "Right beneath you."


	2. Chapter 2: The Fall

_A/N: Second chapter! Nothing really to say, so let's get straight in! *fist pump*_

 **Langley, Virginia. Vice President Lex Luthor, swamped by Secret Service agents, is being held in a CIA safehouse for his own safety following the events in Washington DC.**

"Mr Vice President" came a low female voice. Luthor swivelled around in his chair, surrounded by the Secret Service.

"Amanda Waller. Why am I not surprised?" he said, a sneer lighting up the side of his face. "Colonel Steve Trevor, what are you doing here?" Luthor raised his hand and returned his salute.

"It's General now, sir. With my new rank, I have security clearance at this level and felt I could help in this situation."

"I'm surprised you aren't at Shazam's funeral, sir. The whole Justice League has turned up according to Jack Ryder" Waller said, brushing off an agent with a show of her badge.

"Protocol states that, for my own safety, I can't make any public appearances until 24 hours after the death of the man I'm about to replace." Luthor replied.

"Not that you wanted to be there anyway" the General muttered under his breath. Luthor heard him, but brushed off the comment.

"Anyway, you want to push forward your little Justice League bill, don't you?" He folded his arms and sunk into his chair.

"You say that as if we're glorifying them?" Waller pulled out a file and placed it on the desk between them.

"I don't think many people in our kind of positions do. Certainly not at the moment." Luthor smirked, noticing the General's overt dislike of the remark and he and Waller sat down.

"Agreed. Although it'll be very hard to get rid of them, as much as I want to." Luthor pulled the file towards him and opened it.

"We both think this would be the best way to contain the matter with the least amount of collateral damage." General Trevor said, giving a contemptuous look at Waller. Luthor's eyes flicked through the pages, and the silence was finally broken when Luthor looked up in sarcastic surprise.

"I've never known you to compromise, Amanda." She moved awkwardly in her seat, much to the pleasure of the General.

"As I said," General Trevor sat forward, "we want the least amount of collateral damage."

"Very well." Luthor closed the file, "I'm sure given the circumstances there won't be much resistance in Congress. We can get this passed before the month is out."

"And you can give us your word on that?" Waller said. Luthor pointed to the US flag pin on his jacket.

"I'll have the power to do so from tomorrow."

 **The Justice League Watchtower. Justice League members are returning from the funeral of Shazam in his hometown in Philadelphia.**

"This shouldn't have happened." Superman said. The main hall was filled with almost the entire league membership.

"He was a great warrior and he will be sorely missed by us all" Wonder Woman said, putting her hand on Superman's shoulder. There were many small conversations, but the noise level was still surprisingly quiet and sombre.

"I still can't see why he had to be let into the league." Green Arrow said, talking to Booster Gold.

"Yeah I know, I mean he had the Wisdom of Solomon, but he was 10 years old, for Christ's sake." Booster Gold leant against the wall, sipping his beer.

"Apparently it was only a majority vote. Green Lantern and Batman voted against him. 5-2."

"And that was enough?" Booster Gold said probably a bit too loudly. He looked around and waved apologetically. "I mean, we aren't a fucking frat house."

The wake continued for a while in mainly good spirits, until Batman arrived through the teleport. The room suddenly went very quiet. Batman always had that kind of effect on people, but this time everyone turned their heads to watch him. Superman walked up to Batman, arms out.

"Bruce, why are you here? Isn't Tim's funeral today?" Batman didn't even stop, he just continued towards the monitor room.

"It's my shift. Duty calls." He replied. Superman rolled his eyes.

"You don't need to blame yourself for either of their deaths." Batman stopped.

"You're right. I don't." He turned around to face Superman. "Because it's Billy's fault." Everyone went quiet, as if a wave of Batman's anger rippled through the room and silenced them.

"Bruce you can't…"

"Why can't I?" Batman interrupted him, his voice getting louder. "He made the decision to jump up there and blow it up. And it should never have happened because he should have never made it that far."

"It was a majority decision to let him in."

"It was a wrong decision. It was the _single_ dumbest idea you all have had as heads of the Justice League. And because of this, two young heroes are dead." Noticeably irked by this comment, Superman walked towards him, stopping only to square up against the man who he had fought against for most of his time as a hero.

"With all that stuff with Damien and Darkseid last year, I would've thought you would've been used to it by now, Bruce. You seem to go through more sidekicks than batarangs." The only noise anyone could here was the leather of Batman's gloves tightening as he balled his hands into fists.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Batman said, his voice much quieter, "We shouldn't get to make the decisions here, Clark. There are better people to make those decisions. Elected people. People who the citizens of the world trust to make the right decisions. Members of the Justice League happen to have extra-ordinary skills and abilities and that means that they're above all that? We shouldn't be the all-powerful, self-appointed gods of the world."

Superman replanted his feet, resetting his stance and stepping back.

"We can't let the governments of the world control us, otherwise we just become political tools for them? We need to be neutral."

"We need to make sure that we don't put innocent lives in danger. And if one of us does, we need to take them out of action. We're unchecked, unleashed. Some people still call us all vigilantes. Look at Captain Atom." Captain Atom looked quite surprise that he was being brought into this. "He _literally_ controls the power of a nuclear bomb. What happens if he decided to use that in the middle of a populated city?

"I would ne…" Captain Atom tried to say.

"You cannot know that. Any of us could go rogue or submit to mind-control. Any of us could made rash decisions, just like Billy did, that would put innocent lives in danger. And if that's a possibility, which you cannot argue, the fact that we haven't got any proper system in place to stop that is dangerous. To people without god-like powers, that is _scary_."

"You're just being paranoid, Bruce." Superman said, his calm expression barely scratching the surface of Batman's contempt and bottled rage.

"If you seriously believe that what I'm saying is sheer paranoia at most, then you don't deserve to sit at the head of that table." Batman pointed to the window above them, looking into the Justice League War Room. Superman didn't reply. The heroes around them started looking at each other, astounded looks on their faces. Batman exhaled and brought his hand back to his side. He looked around at everyone, stepping away from Batman as if to address the whole room. "You're all heroes. You all put yourselves in danger to try and save people every day. But if you can't accept that we need someone to keep us doing the right things, then you're just as bad as those that we protect the world against."

"Bruce…" Superman looked down.

"Don't, if you can't see the reality of this situation, then consider this my resignation from the League." He walked past Superman, back to the teleporter. He dialled in the co-ordinates and stood on the transport pad. "Someone will need to take over my shift."

 **Langley Virginia. The Royale Hotel. Room 1939.**

"I know General. You don't need to chew my ear off about it." Amanda Waller said, using the phone by her bed.

"I don't want this to go _that_ far" the General said on the other end of the line.

"It won't do, they aren't idiots."

"I'll hold you to that. Goodnight Waller."

"Goodnight General." She put the phone down, slid into bed, turned the light off and closed her eyes. Within seconds, she opened them again, turned on the light and stood up, holding her previously hidden side-arm.

"What are _you_ doing here?"


	3. Chapter 3: Stacking the Decks

_A/N: Special props to a friend who proof-read the last chapter and helped the story make more sense. Let's get on to chapter 3!_

 **Washington DC. The Capitol Building. Alexander Luthor Jr has just been sworn in as the President of the United States of America.** __

"My fellow Americans, friends, as your President I take into consideration the safety of this country's citizens. Proud citizens who deserve nothing but freedom. Freedom from subjugation. Freedom from fear. The recent events that have led to the unfortunate death of my predecessor, a dear friend of mine, have shown us that there is a group that are tarnishing that freedom. The Justice League." Luthor pointed up at the sky, towards the Watchtower, only just visible during the day. "They have extraordinary powers that they claim to use only to save innocent lives. The fact of the matter is that the tragedy in this very city was made infinitely worse by the reckless action of a Justice League member."

The crowd started to stir considerably. "You do not deserve to live in fear of such powerful and unrestricted beings." Luthor's pose retracted back into a more reserved stance. He took his hands off the podium and clasped them behind his back. "They do, however, have the capacity to give this country, and this planet, a security from certain threats that would otherwise decimate us all in a heartbeat. Because of this, my first act as President is to create a new executive branch to finally put this in check. This executive branch, which will work with the United Nations will seek to make sure the Justice League never makes a judgement call that results in such tragedy. Once Congress approves my bill to bring in the Office of Meta-Human Regulation, we will all feel safer."

 **The Justice League Watchtower Recreational Room. Several heroes are gathered around a large monitor, watching Luthor's inauguration.**

"You have got to be kidding me" said The Flash, "regulation? Really?"

"I think it'll be a good idea" Green Lantern said "As much as we all try our best, it's good to have some oversight." Luthor's speech continued on-screen.

" _With this new act, members of the Justice League who reside in the United States will have to formally register with and report to the OMHR. Those who don't come under the category"_

"So we're basically just going to be government agents then?" Booster Gold said, "I'm all for a bit of a regimental shake-up but this is too far?"

" _Furthermore,"_ Luthor's voice came from the monitor, _"all Justice League members will have to make the OMHR aware of their so-called 'secret identities' for the purpose of transparency."_

"Okay now that's just not gonna fucking happen" Flash stood up, clenching his fists, "I am not giving my secret identity to Luthor. That's literally giving him ammunition to hurt us."

Before anyone else could reply, they realised that Superman was standing in the doorframe.

"We're going to have a meeting about this. It's going to be alright." He turned back immediately and flew upwards, heading for the Justice League War room.

"Superman to Omega-Level members. Meeting in the War Room ASAP. We need to talk."

 **Back in Washington. Luthor is returning to his makeshift office in the Capitol Building with the Secret Service.**

"Sir, you have visitors," one of the agents said as they made their way through the hall. "They're waiting for you in your office."

"I wasn't expecting anyone" he replied. The agent shrugged his shoulders.

"Well sir, arriving unexpectedly is kinda his deal." They arrived at the office door and Luthor raised his eyebrow as the door opened.

"You have got to be joking." He walked into the office to find Amanda Waller sitting in a chair in front of the desk. Standing beside her, his body entirely covered by his shining black cape, was Batman. "What are you doing here?"

"I think you know exactly what I'm doing here, _Mr President._ " Batman said, the sarcastic undertones to his statement were almost tangible. Luthor smiled and waved his hand behind him to his guards.

"Wait outside." The guards left as he walked up to Batman and Waller.

"I have to admit, I knew a high ranking league member would do this, but for the life of me I never thought it would be you." He walked over to a decanter and poured himself a drink. "Brandy?"

"You need me, Luthor. I can help speed this whole process up and save a lot of aggravation."

"I don't doubt it, but why are _you_ doing this? I would've thought you'd be the last person to side with the government on this?" Waller opened her mouth to say something but Luthor raised his hand and stopped her.

"I became Batman to make sure that innocent lives wouldn't be lost, that people could feel safe. It's also why I joined the Justice League, but even that is flawed. I think with my help, this could be the logical next step." Waller tried to speak again and Luthor raised his hand once more. She looked noticeably irritated.

"And why do you think that you're going to be more influential that Superman? He's the face of the Justice League?"

"Is this a job interview?" Batman replied, tilting his head slightly. Luthor raised an eyebrow. "Three points. First, Superman may well be the face of the Justice League, but he doesn't believe in what the OMHR will stand for. He thinks the League should be as it is now. Second, Kal-El isn't human and because of that, he could be seen as an outsider and overstepping his jurisdiction. Third, when he's not Superman, he's a news reporter. When I'm not Batman, I'm head of an international multi-billion dollar corporation." He pressed a button on his belt and his mask unfastened. He raised his hands and pulled it off. Luthor's smile grew even larger. "That is why you need me."

 **The Justice League Watchtower. War Room. The Omega-Level members of the Justice League are gathered around their table.**

"He's not coming, let's just start" Aquaman said, "He made his decision." Flash, J'onn, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Superman all sat down in their seats, Superman at the head of the table.

"This meeting has been called to order in light of recent events concerning the League as a whole" said Superman.

"Luthor's proposal has the power to completely control what we do. I don't trust him" Flash said, "this will fundamentally change our lives and put our families at risk."

"I disagree" Green Lantern said, "We have a duty to the people of the world. We shouldn't be completely separate. I've thought about this concept a lot since I joined the corps, and if all we do is from up here in our space station, we may as well be living on another planet. You may not think about it like that, but I can guarantee you that there are a lot of people who think that."

"But they're going to control us?" Superman said. "We shouldn't be government pawns, we should fight this!"

"But we won't be working for one single country. We'll be working for the U.N. through the OMHR." Lantern replied.

"And what the hell is the difference?" Flash said, standing up.

"The difference is that you won't be working _for_ Luthor!" Lantern stood up to Flash, face to face. J'onn stood up as well, raising his hands at each of them.

"Stop it, stop it right now!" They both looked at him, still tensing their muscles. "You are both arguing pointlessly. Regardless of what you believe, we are here to help protect the people of Earth. You have to respect their government's wishes, no matter what you think of their policies."

"Superman?" Wonder Woman said, "What do you think?"

"I agree with Flash." Lantern turned to Superman and scowled.

"Of course you do! Your irrational hatred of Luthor has blinded you to the good points that he makes!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Superman, still sitting in his seat, bashed his fist against the table, shattering the glasses of water laid out for each member and leaving a sizeable dent in front of him. "I don't care about the semantics, whether we're working _with_ or _for_ Luthor, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I don't think Luthor is telling everyone the full story. I can't get on board just like that." He snapped his fingers.

"I agree" Martian Manhunter said, "Superman is right in saying that Luthor most likely isn't being completely transparent about what he is doing." Flash sent a smug grin in Lantern's direction. "However, I disagree with Flash in saying that we need to be proactively fighting this." Flash's grin disappeared, whereas Lantern's grew double in size. "I will happily not make any kind of deal with Luthor based on the gut feeling you have, Flash. I will not, however, be a part of any resistance to this, we have no moral right to."

"So you just have no backbone?" Flash said. Aquaman gave him a fierce stare before turning to J'onn.

"I'm with the Martian" Aquaman said, standing up. "This seems like a surface world problem and I'll have no part in it. I'm leaving this mess before it inevitably escalates. J'onn you're perfectly welcome to join me." J'onn stood up and the two gave mild nods to the rest of the table and turned to leave.

"Kal," J'onn said, "please don't do anything you can't undo." They walked out of the room. A few seconds later, the whooshing sound of the teleporter was heard echoing through the hallways. A few seconds of silent reflection passed, before Lantern stood up and pushed his chair in.

"Barry, Clark, if you don't get on board with this, I can't see any way in which you can get out of it cleanly. You can't fight the cards if they're stacked against you."


	4. Chapter 4: And So It Begins

_A/N: Apologies for the late chapter, had a bit of a mental block when it came to putting what was in my head into cohesive prose! Enjoy Chapter 4!_

 **Washington DC. The Capitol Building.** Newly sworn-in President Alexander Luthor Jr. gives an address broadcasted to the entire globe.

"My fellow Americans, people of the world, today is a day that should embody the concept of _security_. With the recent tragic events on American soil, we were given an all too bitter reminder that no-one is above the law, not even the Justice League. Their members have been left unchecked for so long and now we finally see the results of such a poor judgement call."

Luthor cracked a small smile. "However, I am pleased to announce that these much needed regulations are here. Effective immediately, all 'heroes' are to report to the Office of Meta-Human Regulation for briefing on the new laws. We will not let those with extra-ordinary abilities run rampant in our cities, endangering civilians with their recklessness. Now, I'd like to invite someone who will be the first to join this new Executive Office, Batman." Luthor stood aside, smiling triumphantly as Batman, with his ever-present stern expression, stepped in front of the camera.

"For too long the Justice League hasn't had any failsafe. We've just been _trusted_ to do our job. Not only does the Office of Meta-Human Regulation have rules we must follow, but has contingency plans to bring them down in the event that they start endangering innocent lives. We will not allow the people of the world to suffer as _collateral damage_. You need to be safe, you need to be protected, but you also need to know who's protecting you, which is why I'm standing before you today."

Many of the heroes who were willing to register were gathered in attendance behind them. Green Lantern and Green Arrow stood there.

"You know, I've never actually heard Batman talk for a long period of time before" Green Arrow said, "He's usually barking orders or not saying anything at all…" Lantern chuckled, but stopped himself, realising how loud he was. Batman turned around and scowled at him before turning to continue his speech.

"I understand that in the previous organisation of the Justice League, I was never in the spotlight. Many of you doubted that I actually existed. You need to be willing to trust me." He exhaled loudly and stood mulling over something. He then pressed a button on his belt and the buckle of his mask unlocked. There was a murmuring in the crowd as his hands came up and clasped his temples. Arrow and Lantern were astounded, looking at each other in exasperation. The mask finally came off and the flash of cameras created a wall of light in front of him. The noise from the crowd erupted into exclamations of surprise.

"My name is Bruce Wayne. When I was 8 years old, my parents were murdered in front of my eyes. From that day I swore I would make sure no-one in Gotham would have to suffer the way I did. I became Batman to make Gotham safe. Joining the Justice League helped me extend that to the world. Although the system wasn't the best the message was clear: we were there to protect the people of Earth. The Office of Meta-Human Registration is something that I believe is the logical next step in making sure you're in safe hands. I urge all Justice League members to register, as I have, so that we may continue the good work we have always aimed to do. Thank you." He picked his mask up and walked away, back inside the building, followed by Lantern, Arrow and Luthor as the White House Press Secretary took to the podium to answer questions.

"I have to say, Bruce, I did not expect you to do that" Lantern said, patting him on the back.

"It needed to be done. Hopefully it'll galvanize those who were on the fence."

"What about the ones on the other side of it?" Green Arrow said, doing his best to keep up with Batman, who was power-walking ahead of them.

"I need to speak to Clark."

 **The following night. Metropolis. The Shuster Building. Apartment 52.**

Lois was struggling to settle down to sleep. She was thinking about Batman's unmasking and how much it troubled her. Worse still, she'd had a long day covering the aftermath of it all; camping outside WayneTech hoping to catch him on his way in, whilst trying to elbow the reporters who had the same idea out of the way. Clark however, was completely dead to the world. Sound asleep and blissfully unaware of Lois' current mood. The click of the lock on the balcony window made Lois shoot upright.

"Clark." She grabbed his shoulder and shook it. He didn't wake up. "CLARK" she said louder and punched him square in the temple.

"Wh… what?" he said, slowly regaining consciousness. As his super-hearing started to kick in, he realise he could hear three heartbeats in the room. Turning around to face the window, he saw Lois, sat upright and looking towards a large shadow, 6 foot tall, with a cape and pointed ears. "Hello Bruce."

"We need to talk, Clark." Clark nodded and got out of bed, grabbing the nearest t-shirt and pulling it over his head.

"Let's go outside." He said, ushering Bruce towards the balcony door.

"Don't be too long, Perry wants us on the Luthor story tomorrow." Lois said, laying back down in bed.

Bruce walked out onto the balcony, followed by Clark. It wasn't a very spacious balcony, but on a reporter's salary, that wasn't a huge surprise.

"Quite a day you had yesterday" Clark said jovially. Bruce ignored the comment completely.

"You need to register, Clark. Lantern told me how the Omega meeting went."

"Bruce, come on. Snap out of it. This isn't like you, you never work with the gover…"

"I'm doing what I can to help protect innocent people," Bruce interrupted him. "And if that means sacrificing my right to make ultimate decisions then so be it."His voice was calm, yet the seriousness of the conversation was evident. "The OMHR is a gateway to making our work even more efficient. We need to be a lot more careful about how we do what we do. The Justice League needs to work like a scalpel, not a sledgehammer."

"That's a little bit of an exagger…"

"No, it isn't. The damage cause to Washington was directly down to reckless tactics on our account. And it wasn't the first time, it wasn't even the second and if we'd kept going as we were it damn well wouldn't have been the last. This is only happening now because this time we inadvertently killed the goddamn president." His voice started to elevate.

"Look Bruce, you can go down whatever path you want with this, but as long as it's alongside Lex Luthor, I won't follow you" Clark folded his arms.

"If you don't register, Clark. Then I will have to put aside everything we've done together in the past, everything our partnership has achieved."

"I understand," Clark replied, "Sooner or later, someone is going to ask you to bring me in. Someone with _authority_."

"I won't be doing it for them, Clark" his lips tightened, "If you can't see what this act stands for as something that transcends all of us, something that embodies the very concept of safety, then you're just as bad as the criminals I've been bringing in for the last 15 years, and I'll do exactly the same to you and anyone who follows you." Unfolding his arms, Clark took a step back and started to turn back towards the door.

"Well Bruce, may the best man win." He opened the door and walked through it. Batman scowled.

"I will."


	5. Chapter 5: Preparation For The Future

_A/N: Straight in with Chapter 5! Thanks to all for sticking with this story. As always I welcome any comment you may have, just leave a review!_

 **Gotham. Wayne Enterprises. Bruce Wayne's Office.**

"Mr Wayne?" a voice came over the phone on his desk. Bruce pressed the button to open the line.

"Yes, Caroline?"

"You have the President on line 1."

"Thank you" he pressed the button and turned on the open speaker. "Mr President."

"Good afternoon," Luthor's voice sounded, "I just wanted to express my thanks again for your input into the OMHR. Your speech the other day has apparently lifted the spirits of a lot of heroes. We have 29 new registrations as of 5 minutes ago."

"Any notable members?" Bruce replied.

"We have Cyborg, 3 lanterns and Black Canary as official OMHR members."

"Only three lanterns? Which of them haven't signed up?"

"Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner. We haven't been able to reach Rayner even with our communications being boosted by the Watchtower."

"Rayner is almost always in deep space at the moment, that doesn't surprise me. What about Gardner?" Bruce sat back in his chair.

"He was very reluctant to even talk to us, and when he did, let's just say he didn't use language suitable for public broadcast. I think that Red Lantern ring of his may have been influencing his decision too much."

"They rely on anger for their strength. Having said that, he doesn't strike me as a person who would've signed up without his ring anyway." He looked out of his office window at the shimmering sunlight glistening on the high-rise windows outside. "Is that it?"

"Is that it, _Sir_ " Luthor replied sternly "Just because we've fought in the past doesn't mean you get to ignore the office I hold."

"Right…" Bruce sarcastically retorted, "Is that it _Sir?_ " He gritted his teeth as he said it. _This was going to be hard to get used to._

 **Later that night. Gotham City. The roof of Dini Tower. Batman and Robin are on routine patrol together.**

"I knew he wouldn't show." Robin said, putting his binoculars away.

"Patience, Robin." Batman replied. They spent the next 20 minutes in silence watching the building on the other side of the street.

"Father," Robin said, breaking the silence abruptly, "I wish to speak with you about something."

"Go on…" Batman replied.

"I've been thinking about the registration. Now you're publicly known as Bruce Wayne, I realise that as your son, I'm obliged to register myself."

"Agreed."

"The thing is, I'm not going to." Batman turned to his son. "I don't believe the governments of the world are the right hands to be controlling what we do, and quite frankly, I'm surprised you don't see it that way too."

"Damian, you're letting Ra's…"

"So what? Grandfather always said that civilisation was corrupt and weak. Every time it tries to consolidate its power, it becomes dirtier and dirtier. Ra's Al Ghul is one of the greatest minds on this planet. Is it such a stretch for you to believe that he's right?" Batman didn't reply. "Father, I respect you more than almost everyone else I've ever met, but I cannot side with you on this. It just won't happen." Batman took in breath to speak, but was cut off by the com-link in his ear.

"Sir, there seems to be a problem at the Gotham Central Train Station." Alfred's voice said into his ear. "I had master Grayson look into it but he appears to be having some trouble."

"Who's behind it?"

"Riddler, I believe, sir."

"We're on our way." Batman turned around, turning off his com-link to find that Robin had gone. _Well, at least he's learning._

 **3 days later. The speedy rebuilding of the White House is nearing completion. President Luthor, in a newly built and doubly protected Oval Office is meeting with Waller and General Trevor.**

"I have to say Amanda, I've never been more pleased with work bearing your signature." Luthor shook her hand.

"Thank you, sir. However, I haven't come here today to rake in the praise, we have a minor problem."

"Go on…" Luthor poured himself a glass of water from the decanter.

"We've had about a third of the League openly refusing registration. As far as I understand it, the UN gives us jurisdiction over domestic heroes and so we need to decide what we're going to do about them." Glancing out of the window, Luthor smiled.

"Any ideas, General?"

"Well, sir, it seems as though the apprehension and detention of the league members who attempt to continue as they are without registering is the most logical option."

"Do we have the means to pull that off?" asked Luthor.

"Yes sir," Waller interjected, "With those already registered we have more than enough firepower to take them down."

"Good, that's apprehension dealt with. What about detention?" Luthor smirked.

"I've already got people drawing up the plans now. A high-tech facility, placed at the boundary of United States territory offshore and fully equipped to deal with those it houses."

"Excellent. Once again Amanda, you've outdone yourself." Waller smiled at the compliment.

"Anything else you'd like to discuss, sir?" Waller said, still smiling.

"No, that'll be all, thank you." Waller turned to leave the room, whilst General Trevor packed up his things. As soon as he clocked Waller leaving the room, he turned back to Luthor.

"Sir, if I may?" He said.

"Go ahead, General." Luthor replied cheerfully.

"When these heroes get brought in, and I choose my words carefully here, please let them be brought in with their dignity? These people put their lives on the line for ordinary people on a daily basis. They don't deserve to be brought in like criminals."

"Criminals?" Luthor sounded overtly surprised. "I'm afraid that's exactly what they are. Should they continue to pursue their current lifestyle, by which I mean acts of unsanctioned _vigilantism_ , they would be breaking the law and therefore become criminals. We can't be sentimental about this, General. You of all people should know that, or do I need to remind you of your past relations to a certain Amazonian princess?" Trevor, clenching his fists, was doing his utmost to restrain himself. "Anything else you would like to bring up, General Trevor?"

"No, sir." He saluted, picked up his things and left the room. As he left, Waller was waiting behind the door.

"What was that, Steve?" she said, the growling undertone of anger giving an unsettling atmosphere to the conversation.

"None of your concern, _Amanda_ " Trevor said, not pausing to wait for Waller, as he walked briskly down the hallway and towards his car.

 **Atlantis. Martian Manhunter and Aquaman are mulling over the events on the surface.**

"Both of them are taking it way too far out of hand." Aquaman said. The two of them were sitting at the table in the main dining hall of Aquaman's palace.

"Agreed. I've never seen Bruce become so proactively aggressive before" J'onn replied. The two Justice League heavy-hitters were feeling slightly uncomfortable, mulling over the possible outcomes of the turmoil erupting around them.

"I know this is far more important, but I remember them arguing a couple of months ago. They literally didn't stop for like 2 and a half hours. Then all kinds of people needlessly got involved and by the end of it, no-one really remembered what they were fighting for" Aquaman joked. J'onn tried his best to make a convincing laugh. The awkward silence that followed was swiftly broken by an Atlantean guard entering the room.

"Sire, you have visitors" he replied, bowing as Aquaman stood up.

"I wasn't expecting anybody" he replied, "Send them through." The guard nodded and turned towards the door. He ushered the visitors through as he passed them. J'onn's abnormally large eyebrows raised in surprise as he saw Wonder Woman and Doctor Fate flying through the doorway.

"Good evening Arthur, J'onn" Fate said, as he landed softly on the ground.

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be on Themyscira?" Aquaman said.

"We have much more pressing matters to discuss in person" she replied. Fate turned towards J'onn, standing aside from Aquaman so he could get a better view.

"J'onn, we need your help to locate someone."


	6. Chapter 6: Skirmish

_A/N: Once again, sorry for the late chapter, mental block persists again. Please leave a review or PM me if you have anything to say, good or bad! I can't become a better writer without help or criticism._

 **Blüdhaven. The Docks. Roman Sionis AKA Black Mask is moving his latest purchase from a container ship to a truck to transport it to his warehouse.**

"You know, I _will_ kill you if you drop that thing" Black Mask said to his goons as they lifted the first Gatling gun off the ship.

"I know boss but," the goon groaned as the full weight of it left the container and onto their shoulders, "but this fucker is heavy." As the first gun slowly made its way towards the truck, Black Mask stood up.

"Make sure that perimeter is tight. I don't want any winged intruders busting in here." The lookout guard turned around and raised his weapon; the night-vision scope mounted on top of his rifle glistened emerald in the night. He scanned the surrounding area.

"Ah shit," he said to himself before grabbing his communicator, "Boss, we got a problem."

"I swear to god, Bones…" Black Mask clenched his fists.

"Rigsy is down." The tremble in his voice starting to show, "I don't know about Spark or Knuckles but…"

"But what? Bones? Answer me you sack o' shit" Black Mask turned sharply towards the rest of his crew. "Double time boys, we got company." They struggled, shuffling along towards the truck with more vigour, but they stopped dead as a gunshot rang through the area.

"Is it the Bat? Nightwing?" One of the crew asked.

"No. That came from a handgun. As far as I'm aware you're all carrying semi-automatics." There was a brief pause as they all looked around, cautiously. Then, out of nowhere, a figure leapt out of the darkness, flipping over a guard, grabbing his head and snapping his neck mid-air. The figure landed, and pulling out two pistols from his jacket, fired either side, taking out two more guards with perfect headshots.

 _Five against one,_ he thought, _this'll be easy._ He darted forward, jumping to kick the rifle out of the first guard's hand, then swiftly ducking under the swinging punch of another and continued moving. Running backwards, he fired two more shots at them and took them out before turning back towards Black Mask. _Three._ Black Mask stepped back as his lieutenants moved forward. The tall, burly muscled man pulled a knife out of his pocket, whilst his smaller, yet much rougher looking compatriot grabbed a crowbar from the top of a wooden crate. The figure walked slowly up to the two of them, putting his guns back in their holsters and cracking his knuckles. As one guard swung his crowbar, the figure ducked under it and parried it further, sending the guard flailing sideways. The guard wielding the knife started slashing, aiming for the figure's chest. The slashes were dodged again and again. Suddenly, after a poorly aimed lunge, the figure grabbed the guard's wrist and bent it backwards. Using the momentum against him, he pushed the knife up and into the guard's neck. _Two._ Almost instantly, he let go, pulled the knife from the guard's neck as he fell and moved straight on to the other guard, who was now standing in the middle of a tight alley between stacked crates. He burst forward, ducking two swings of the crowbar and jumped. Pushing off of a crate in the alley, he jumped up and span in the air. As he passed the guard, he threw the knife. The figure landed, his crimson helmet glistening in the dim light of the floodlights above. He stood up to the faint sound of the guard's body hitting the floor, clutching the knife lodged between his ribs.

"Red Hood" Black Mask said, "I didn't expect _you_ to make the journey to Blüdhaven."

"There's nowhere you can go that I can't go too, Sionis" Red Hood replied, his voice sounded metallic and gravelling with the voice modulator in his helmet. Red Hood approached Black Mask, pulling one of his guns out. Black Mask raised his hand and a small pistol appeared from under his sleeve. He fired at Red Hood who ducked to the left, span around and threw an elbow, knocking the pistol out of Black Mask's hand. As he raised his own weapon and aimed at Black Mask's head, a small projectile knocked the gun out of his hand. As it hit the ground, he instantly recognised it: a small batarang shaped object, with a blue bird at the top.

"What are you doing here?" He said. Swinging in on a grapnel hook was Nightwing. He landed next to Red Hood and Black Mask.

"You know why I'm here" he replied, folding his arms.

"Look bluebird," Black Mask said, "I'm flattered that you thought you both needed to be here but…" Red Hood swing a punch that shattered the wooden mask. Roman Sionis grabbed his face. "Jheez, I think you broke my nose."

"Shut up" he turned back to Nightwing.

"You can't be doing this anymore. Not without proper oversight" Nightwing said.

"That never stopped me before" Red Hood said. Sionis started to back away. Nightwing saw him and shot his grapnel hook at him. Latching onto his shoulder, it pulled Sionis towards him and he left his arm out as Sionis crashed into it, sending him falling down the stairs. He landed in a heap on top of the corpse of one of his guards.

"It wasn't the law before. Now it is. You need to register like the rest of us, or stop what you're doing. Otherwise you'll end up like Sionis, unconscious and about to go to Blackgate." Nightwing replied as he walked downstairs to Sionis.

"And if I don't?" Red Hood replied.

"Then we have a problem, Jason." Red Hood unclipped the buckle on the holster of his other gun. "Don't do it" Nightwing said, reaching for his electrified stun sticks.

Red Hood drew his gun suddenly and fired at Nightwing, who dived out of the way and took cover behind a crate. "Dammit, Jason!" he shouted, "You don't need to do this! You're better than that."

"I'm just lookin' out for myself, Dick" Red Hood replied, strafing to the left to flank him. He jumped over a crate, down the flight of stairs, all the while keeping his gun firmly aimed towards Nightwing's last known position. "You oughta know by now, family means nothing when it comes down to it. He forgot about me once, and when this all consumes him he'll forget about you too." He moved past the final crate to see that Nightwing had gone. He smirked.

 _Hold on_. _I'm smarter than this._ He felt the softest change in the breeze behind him. He turned sharply, pulling a full 180. He parried Nightwing's lunging haymaker and threw a return jab. Nightwing ducked underneath. From a low position, he put his hand up, grabbed the bottom of Red Hood's helmet and pushed up. With the throat exposed, he threw a Jiu Jitsu strike upwards. Red Hood stepped back clutching his throat, struggling to breath. He removed one hand and pressed a button on his mask. The buckle came un-done and he pulled it off his head.

"Remind me never to piss you off." He smirked. With all the pain in his larynx, he still had the energy to taunt him.

"You're an idiot" Nightwing said. He hurled a roundhouse kick at Red Hood. The former Robin hit the deck.

"Nightwing to Watchtower" he said into his communicator, "Gonna need some assistance on this one.


	7. Chapter 7: The Reaper

_A/N: Nice bit of action in the last chapter. Thought it was a bit missed in previous chapters so I spiced it up a little. Hopefully will keep you all on your toes in future chapters! As always feel free to give me a PM or a review if you have anything to say about what I write._

 **Washington DC. The new OMHR Building. The committee heading the executive branch are having a meeting.**

"Thank you all for coming" Amanda Waller said, taking a seat adjacent to the head of the table. "I understand that the President cannot make it today but he's already been briefed." Around Waller sat General Steve Trevor, General Michael Luceno and Bruce Wayne.

"So what's this big news, Waller?" Luceno asked. He sat, furrowing his brow at Waller. Much like General Trevor, Luceno was a very much a favourer of the League and didn't really like this much interference, but didn't think that protesting was worth his rank.

"Well, Gentlemen," she said, "As you all know we've had a mixed response from League members since the act came into law. We've had people that have resisted us; some got away, some didn't. The number of those who didn't is starting to rise at a rate in which we can't cope. Our plan is to convince them to change their mind about all this and register." Bruce sat back in his chair. "However, those who still refuse are becoming an annoying usage of space and time. That is why we are going to build this." She pulled a file from her briefcase and threw it onto the table.

The file showed blueprints for an offshore prison, larger than Blackgate or Stryker's Island.

"We're rehashing Alcatraz again?" Luceno said.

"We're calling it the Greenhouse." A voice said from the doorway. The British voice was unfamiliar to the Generals and even to Bruce Wayne. They all turned to see a tall, skinny man. His hair was medium length, swept to the side showing hints of grey woven between the brown. As he stepped forward, his cane came into view, accompanied by a very noticeable limp on his right side. "A 90 Kilometres cubed multi-story detention facility off the coast of Florida. State of the art facilities, lead lined walls, reinforced by STAR Labs to withstand twice the force of the largest ever recorded explosion on Earth."

"And you are?" General Luceno asked.

"My name is Raynard. As of yesterday I was appointed the Warden of the Greenhouse Facility and because of that, I am now on this committee." He took his seat opposite Waller. "We have already started construction and with the help of the more able bodies League members, we should finish within the week."

"How many detainees will be housed initially?" General Trevor asked, completely glossing over the fact that a relatively unknown man had waltzed into one of the most high profile and classified meetings in the world.

"We have 28 members currently in custody refusing to register."

"Such as?" Bruce said. Waller pulled out her phone.

"According to my list we have a few high-profile members: John Constantine, Catwoman, Red Hood, Doctor Light and Hawkman to name a few." Bruce looked noticeably irked.

"Something wrong, Mr Wayne?" Raynard sneered.

"Red Hood. Jason Todd. He's one of mine." Bruce replied. Raynard laughed. "Something funny, Reynard?"

"Not at all" he replied, sitting back in his chair, hands clasped and smiling. "I didn't expect you to let your protégés out on such a long leash. I'll allow you the courtesy of overseeing his incarceration if you want?" Bruce git his teeth.

"Knock it off Raynard" Waller said, "I pulled you in as a favour for old time's sake. Don't piss anyone off." Waller briefly nodded her head towards Bruce. "Especially someone important." Reynard sucked in his cheek as Bruce let out the smallest of smiles.

 **OMHR Temporary Detention Facility. The Greenhouse Facility is being clear for use in 2 days.**

"You will remain seated. You stay seated until told to do otherwise. Any move you make that we haven't told you to do results in the termination of this meeting. Am I clear, inmate?"

"Fuck off." Jason sat, handcuffed to the table. The guard rolled his eyes. He wasn't the nicest of guards but he sure as hell wasn't the worst.

"Excuse me?" he replied.

"Yes sir," Jason muttered mildly. The guard huffed and walked towards the door. As he stepped out he held it open for Bruce Wayne to walk through.

"Bruce? Aw Jesus." Jason said. He sighed and looked down at his lap.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Bruce said as he sat down. "The gravity of your situation?"

"Bruce, you can't expect me to follow you on this one? I think Superman is…"

"Don't bring him up, he's irrelevant. You went against something you knew damn well you couldn't get away from, especially when I'm involved."

"Oh yeah because you're so fucking all powerful, Bruce? Hate to disappoint you _dad._ "

"Stop acting like a child! You don't understand what I'm sacrificing in the name of peace!" Bruce stood up, placing both hands flat on the table, like a dog bearing down on an attacker. "I've got to deal with Luthor, Waller and now Reynard to make sure they stick to what we all agreed."

"Reynard?" Jason leaned forward calmly. "Sebastian Reynard?" Bruce, mirroring Jason's calmness, did the same and sat back down.

"He never said his first name" he replied.

"Tall, skinny British guy? With a cane?" Jason said.

"That's him. How do you..?"

"I've seen this guy before. He used to work for Waller back when the Suicide Squad was active."

"Doing what exactly?" Bruce said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I don't know what he's doing on your committee but when I last saw him he was organising the Squad's transport, weapons and pretty much their entire goddamn mission. This guy is smart, calculated and incredibly well connected. He got them into the _Kremlin_ , Bruce. With the Russians' full consent."

"And how do you know all this? Why were you around Amanda Waller?"

"Because I was on that mission."

"And why were you working on the Suicide Squad?" Bruce's voice raised again slightly.

"We can talk about that another time, considering I now have a lot of it. What you need to know is that you need to be careful. I'm not getting out of here anytime soon so I can't do anything for you except warn you."

"Well I know what I'm up against now."

"No you don't. He's someone that I couldn't get much information on, even using the Bat-Computer. All I've told you I gathered from one meeting with the guy. The rest of the time he was just talking in my ear."

"Right." Bruce said. His voice had shifted. He was no longer talking like Bruce Wayne would. His voice was lower. Rougher. Like Batman's. He stood up, gave Jason a small nod and turned to leave.

"Bruce" Jason said. Bruce turned around slowly, one hand on the door. "His codename was _The Reaper_ and trust me, he earned it."

 **Central City. In a bunker deep beneath the surface, Superman has gathered allies to discuss the growing situation with the OMHR. In attendance with Superman are Flash, Guy Gardner, Booster Gold and Robin.**

"Thank you all for coming" Superman said, "I'd hoped for a bigger turn out but unfortunately most of those who share our concern about Bruce's actions are in federal custody."

"Bastards" Robin said, not hiding his voice at all. Flash was taken aback but a 10 year old swearing so freely.

"I agree with the little guy" Guy Gardner said. Powered by a Red Lantern power ring, Gardner's emotions, especially _anger_ were in an inflated state. Robin was not pleased at being referred to as _the little guy_ and gave a huff of contempt.

"Guys, we need to do something. But more importantly we need to make sure that we cause as little damage and publicity about this. Quick silent approach is a definite goal here" Flash said.

"Much more my style" Robin said, rubbing his hands together.

"Which is why we aren't going to fight anyone. No violence" Superman said.

"Wait what?" Gardner and Robin both said.

"No violence. If we do that we end up criminals and that is not something I will abide by" Superman said.

"We're already criminals" Gardner said, folding his arms, "I don't see the difference anymore. If they're gone they aren't a threat. I don't see why Batman isn't an enemy now. I'll happily take him out and sort the problem then and there."

"You do not touch Bruce" Superman said. He puffed out his chest to make himself seem bigger than his already impressive stature was. "He's Justice League. You hurt him, you deal with me. Am I clear?" There was a brief pause while Gardner considered his options.

"Fucking pacifist." He leaned back against a wall and broke eye contact. His ring started to glow slightly brighter.

"Don't worry. This'll we're gonna do this so that we can get back to the way things were. The old Justice League."

"And how are we going to do that?" Robin asked.

"I have a contact inside the OMHR. They're going to feed us information and that's how we're going to beat them. We're going to beat them at their own game."


	8. Chapter 8: Mixed Messages

_A/N: I'm trying not to bring in too many more characters as to make it easy(ish) to follow. As per usual, please leave a review or PM if you have anything to say about what you've read. Enjoy!_

 **Washington. The OMHR Building. Barbara Gordon's Office.**

After registering, despite technically being an out-of-action member, Barbara Gordon followed her mentor, Bruce, into the bureaucratic side of the OMHR. While Bruce went out to do all kinds of business both in and out the batsuit, Barbara stayed and worked in his stead, effectively running everything herself. Bruce's position on the OMHR Committee was Head of Justice League Operation Management.

"Barbara?" Waller said, knocking on the door.

"Mrs Waller." Barbara said looking up from her computer.

"I need to update you on operation D42." Waller closed the door. Barbara rolled her wheelchair out from behind her desk and moved round to next to the empty chair on the other side. Waller pressed a button near the light switches and the windows misted. "We may have conclusive intel on Superman's whereabouts. Somewhere in Central City. We think he's underground. Literally."

"Do we have any idea of who's with him? If any?" Barbara replied.

"We believe there's at least one Omega level Meta with him. It stands to reason that they're grouping together for something."

"When's this going down?" Barbara looked at her watch.

"As far as I'm aware it's already a go, but they're scheduled to arrive in around 4 hours' time" Waller said. "We'll have Bruce, Nightwing and Lantern there for containment. Reynard is prepping for containment. Should be pretty straightforward seeing as Bruce is taking Kryptonite with him."

"Okay good. Hopefully this'll sort out this mess quickly." Waller nodded and stood up and left. Barbara turned around and wheeled herself back to her desk. She noticed that the windows were still misted. He raised an eyebrow and pulled a playful grin. She picked up a stapler, closed her eyes and threw it. She opened her eyes to the sound of the staple hitting the wall then hitting the ground. The windows had become clear again. _Still got it._

 **Central City. The Sewers. Batman's strike force prepare to move in on Superman's Location.**

"Just behind this wall" Nightwing said. "Lantern, we need this done quietly. We don't want any runners, especially if Barry is in there." Green Lantern nodded and walked towards the wall. He pointed his ring at the wall. Out of the ring came a large circular saw. He slowly cut through the stagnant brick wall, slowly carving a hole through it. As the bricks started to crumble after being cut, he sent out another shot of hard light that took the shape of a bowl, catching all the debris to make as little noise.

Once the whole was made, the three men stepped into the room. Nightwing first, electrified batons held aloft and ready. Green Lantern followed, ring raised. Finally, Batman entered. This was his first outing in the new batsuit model. The arm blades were much shorter than previously, the lack of cape did not reduce the size of his still imposing stature, and the glistening yellow bat-symbol stood proud, surrounded by matte black Kevlar encompassing his entire body. His chin and mouth being the only skin on show.

"Let's make this as quick and painless as possible" he said. He pointed out two doors on either side of the room. Nightwing and Lantern went over to check them.

"Nothing here" Lantern said.

"Ditto" Nightwing added. Batman walked forward and pressed a button on his temple. His eyes turned sheet white. Scanning the area.

"I've got three heat signatures below us" he said.

"There's stairs on my side" Nightwing said. He ushered the others to follow him.

As they moved down the stairs, the patch hooked left sharply. Nightwing took cover behind the corner of the wall. He pressed a button on his mask, but unlike Batman's, only one of his eyes went white. He then pressed a button on his wrist and attached a small black device onto the end of his finger and hooked it around the corner of the wall. On white side of his mask, the camera feed showed him Superman and Flash looking at a map on the table. Using his other hand, he held up two fingers. Batman and Lantern nodded.

Batman pointed forwards with two fingers and split them, pointing either side. Nightwing and Lantern acknowledged him. Nightwing turned off his camera and put it away, then turned and walked casually into the room.

"Hey Clark. Barry" he said nonchalantly. "Now what _are_ you guys up to?"

"Damian." Superman said, looking up. Robin dropped down and kicked Nightwing in the back. He fell forward. Batman and Lantern suddenly burst into the room. Lantern shot a hard light beam at Flash, who dodged it and raced towards him. Batman, on the other hand, stood back, staring down Superman.

"You gonna take me down, Bruce?" Superman said. He folded his arms. Batman walked slowly towards him. He balled his fists together and smashed them together twice. Down each arm ran two strips of bright green. Then snaked down his arms, culminating at his fists, lighting up each knuckle. He jumped up and punched Clark square in the jaw, sending him backwards. Superman stumbled but remained on his feet. "We really don't have to do this, Bruce."

"No Clark. If you won't do what's right then we _do._ " Batman walked over to Superman, raising his fist for another swing. As he did, Superman caught the punch and bent his arm backwards. Just as Batman was about to swing with his other hand, Superman shot heat vision beams into Batman's shoulder. Screaming out in pain, Batman retracted his arm and stepped back.

"Stay off Bruce. I don't want to hurt you." Batman smirked, looking at his scalding shoulder.

"Thanks for being so caring."

Meanwhile, Nightwing was losing the fight to Robin. Badly. 8 years of martial-arts training from Bruce Wayne is some of the best possible in the world. On the other hand, going against someone surrounded by the League of Assassins, under the tutelage of Ra's al Ghul, _from birth_ , is not the best situation to find yourself in. Nightwing was reeling. Robin had just hit him with a roundhouse kick the liver. Even though he was wearing Kevlar, same as Batman, Robin had jumped off a wall to give it more power. The kick hurt. Nightwing, head ringing from previous punches, threw a wild, uncontrolled haymaker. Robin, however, had hear the faintest of flutters behind him. He stepped aside. Flash ploughed through, knocking Nightwing over and continuing to run away from a chasing Green Lantern. Superman turned around and used his heat vision to cut a hole in the ceiling up towards the surface.

"Time to go, Barry." Superman said, as he shot up through the hole into the sky. Flash, making one more run around the room, grabbed Robin as he ran before shooting up the hole himself.

The dust settled, the three men still in the room speechless. Batman, stood holding his shoulder. With his uninjured arm, he pressed his communicator.

"Barbara, arrange a meeting with the committee, and make sure Reynard is damn well there!"


	9. Chapter 9: Setting Up The Board

_A/N: Good to be back writing after a while! Enjoy the next chapter and as always, leave a review or PM me if you have anything to say!_

 **Washington. The OMHR Building. Amanda Waller is making her way towards Sebastian Reynard's office to get an update on the Greenhouse Facility's progress.**

"DON'T LIE TO ME, REYNARD" Bruce stood in front of the desk, the owner of which was sitting just behind it, leaning back on his chair and his arms folded.

"Bruce, I simply cannot understand why you think it was me?" He smirked, irritating Bruce just a bit more. Waller opened the door and walked through. Reynard looked at her, as she raised an eyebrow. Bruce, however didn't acknowledge her presence at all. He grabbed Reynard and pulled him closer.

"You're the only person on this committee that I haven't personally had the opportunity to do a background check on. I want to know how Clark knew we were coming and you're the only person who can possibly know."

"Unfortunately, my friend, you're wrong there. I haven't done anything that goes against this department. I give you my word."

"Bruce, let the man go" Waller said. Bruce relinquished his grip on Reynard's suit jacket and turned around. "Jesus, with you two and Luthor, I feel like a goddamn elementary school teacher" Waller said, folding her arms. Both men looked slightly offended.

"May I remind you, Amanda," Reynard said, standing up, "that Luthor, Bruce and I are among the cleverest men on this planet."

"And none of you have anything on me" Waller replied, "now sit back down and talk to me. What happened?"

"He knew we were coming" Bruce said, "they made short work of their escape. We were in there for 6 minutes maximum and on the back foot for 5 and a half."

"So you think he was tipped off?" Waller shook her head.

"And he thinks _I_ did it" Reynard smirked again. Both Bruce and Waller, albeit for differing reasons, shot dirty scowls in his direction.

"What do you want from me, Bruce?" Waller turned back to him.

"We need to flush him out. As far as I know he'll still be on this planet. The bunker was probably just a place to plan. He wouldn't be staying there and he'd need to keep tabs on the outside world."

"I know exactly what you want to do. Go ahead. I'll speak with Luthor and get him on board too. We'll do it tomorrow."

"What exactly are you two on about?" Reynard said, furrowing his brow.

 **Metropolis. The Daily Planet. Perry White is sitting in his office, reading through a draft of tomorrow's paper.**

Perry sat there, sifting through lines upon lines of text looking for anything he could pick someone up on. As his office door opened, his secretary peeked around.

"Perry you have a call from Jack about the Greenhouse story."

"Thank you, Sharon put him th…" Looking through the door, he caught a glimpse of a face he didn't expect to see today. He stood up and walked through the door, pushing Sharon aside. "What the fuck do you think you're doing here, Clark?" Clark Kent, standing in front of an empty desk, looked up to see Perry staring at him with a look of surprise and annoyance.

"Perry, where's my stuff?" Clark said.

"Where the hell do you think?" Perry replied, his hands on his hips, "You've been gone for 2 months. No note, no email. Hell, I'd have thought you were dead, had Lois not been cashing your paychecks for you." He pointed to Lois, who was peeking her head over the partition of her booth.

"You cashed in my paychecks?" Clark said, "Thanks babe."

"FOCUS!" Perry shouted, "The respect I have for you as an investigative reporter and the stories you pull in is the only reason you are still registered as an employee of this company, even if you don't fucking act like one!"

"Uh, Perry…" a voice from the side of the room said, "you might wanna come look at this." He walked over to the booth, where an intern was sitting at a desk, looking at a webpage on the computer.

On-screen was a live feed of Bruce Wayne, standing outside the OMHR Building, surrounded by reporters. Next to him on a stand, was a large sign with the Superman symbol on it, surrounded by text which read:

 **SUPERMAN: PUBLIC ENEMY #1**

 **WANTED FOR FEDERAL CRIMES**

 **REWARD OF $3,000,000 FOR THE CAPTURE OF SUPERMAN**

 **ALIVE**

"Turn the sound up" Clark said, looking over Perry's shoulder. Bruce's voice slowly became audible.

"…that Superman is refusing to co-operate. We have just had Justice Martin approve two arrest warrants. These are for Superman and the Flash. With these two as government fugitives, the OMHR cannot properly function and the Government has been forced to act in a more unorthodox fashion. To help us with the capture of these two we are disclosing some previously classified information."

"Claire" Perry said loudly, "Get ready to take this down." Everyone in the room quickly turned their attentions back to Bruce, who had now been projected onto the TVs all around the office.

"Superman's real name is Clark Kent." There was a stunned silence in the room. Clark instantly felt all eyes were suddenly on him. "He is a reporter for the Daily Planet and is originally from Smallville, Kansas." Clark looked around frantically, Bruce's voice still playing loudly from the TV. "The Flash's real name is Barry Allen. He is a forensic scientist working with the Central City Police Department. Both of these men are government fugitives and are to be treated as extremely dangerous. Do not attempt to capture these men without contacting the police first." Bruce's voice faded away. Clark's mind was spinning. _He's just ruined my life._

"Clark… is this true?" Perry said, stepping forward. Clark stepped back, still unsure where to look, until his eyes rested on Lois, tears streaming down her face. She gave him a look as if to say _I'm sorry_. Clark took a deep breath and ran towards a window.

"WAIT!" Perry shouted.

"CLARK" Lois cried. Clark jumped through the window and out into the street. He flew up and away as fast as he could.

As he broke the sound barrier flying above Canada, Clark was still feeling dazed and full of unwanted adrenaline. When he finally arrived at the Fortress of Solitude, he flew through the door and landed in the Central Hub. Breathing heavily, he swung out and kicked a large crystal in the floor, sending it flying as he screamed in anger. He breathed deeply and slowly calmed himself down. He sat down on the step and held his head in his shaking hands.

"What is wrong, my son?" A voice boomed through the halls. Jor-El's face appeared as a hologram, filtered through the crystals.

"He just ruined my life" Clark said, the anguish in his voice causing him to stutter. "I can't go back, I can't fit in. He just made me an outcast again. I'm never going to be normal again."

"You were never normal, Kal" Jor-El said, "You were always so much greater than normal." Clark stood up.

"I don't think I can beat him, father." He stood, looking down at the floor.

"Kal." Clark didn't move, "KAL" Jor-El said louder. Clark looked up at him. "You just haven't been as prepared as he has. You can't hope to win a battle when you aren't prepared, even if you _are_ Superman."

"He's thought of everything. I have nowhere to turn."

"That's' where you're wrong, my son. Having studied the records of Earth from this _internet_ , I understand that there is a mental sport by the name of _Chess_." Clark nodded. "In this game, both participants have 16 pieces and those pieces are a perfect mirror of their opponent's pieces, correct?" Clark nodded again. "Then that's what you must do. Look at what your opponent has, and choose your allies accordingly."

"But Bruce has so many." Clark said.

"With all the good you've done in this world, my son, there will always be friends for you to find. Some may even be pieces that weren't always thought of as friends."

 _A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter. Next one on the way soon. Don't be afraid to leave a review!_


	10. Chapter 10: Tactical Minds Think Alike

_A/N: Quick turnaround for the next chapter as I'm in the zone and really enjoying writing at the moment. Enjoy!_

 **Nanda Parbat. The League of Assassins' Stronghold. Superman, Flash and Robin are meeting to discuss their next move after Bruce Wayne's public unveiling of Superman and Flash's identities.**

Superman sat in a chair, whilst Flash paced the room at lightning speed and Robin stood at the balcony, looking out into the snowy abyss that he knew so well. Their current location was a temporary one, but one that wouldn't be unappreciated given the circumstances.

"How could he do this to us?" Flash said, "he broke the unspoken rule between League members."

"That doesn't exist anymore, Barry" Superman said, "Bruce's organisation knows the identity of every league member, past and present, I guarantee it." As Superman sat back in his chair, a faint red light lit up the balcony, and soon Guy Gardner flew down and landed next to Robin.

"I did what you asked, Clark. Our contact is still in. I'm assuming by the fact that you're still here that our plan worked. How did it go?"

"My father walked away the worst" Robin said, "Superman fried his shoulder."

"Completely?!" Guy said, a devilish grin on his face.

"No, I just burnt a couple of layers of skin. He'll be fine" Superman replied.

"Damn." Guy lightly hit the wall, showing his disappointment.

"We don't want this to turn into a full on war, Guy. I'm not going to let it go that far." As Clark said this, Flash stopped suddenly.

"How do you know you have that control?" he said, folding his arms.

"I don't" Superman said, turning his head away and sighing.

"Then we need to take a leaf out of Bruce's book and have a contingency plan" Flash said.

"Agreed" Robin said, "Father has a strong force behind him, we need to do the same. Not just muscle, mind power too." Superman laughed.

"You're starting to sound like my father" he said, standing up, "he said the same thing."

"Then let's do it?" Guy said, rubbing his hands together.

"Okay," Flash said. They all gathered around a table in the centre of the room. "What does Bruce have that we don't?"

"Multiple level 5 geniuses on his side. The armies of the world. Around two thirds of the league willing to fight for him" Guy said sarcastically. Robin punched him in the kidney, much to Guy's dismay.

"He's got a point, Damien" Superman said, "Firstly we need the tactician."

"Hey!" Robin said.

"No offense, you're good but you aren't nearly as good as your father. We need someone with more experience."

"I agree with Clark here" Flash said, "any ideas?"

"Damien, would your grandfather…"

"No," Robin stopped him, "the mere fact that we're standing in this room is against my grandfather's wishes. He doesn't want to get involved with this. It's not his fight."

"Okay, there goes my bright idea" Superman said.

"You might, however, be on the right lines," Robin said, "there's someone who could fit your description who's fought both my grandfather and my father and been a worthy opponent for them both… and I know where to find him."

 **Gannet Peak. The Wind River Mountain Range, Wyoming.**

"Easy. Easy now." He knelt there, calm and concentrating. With all his training, the rifle was merely an extension of his own body. The serenity engulfed the area as the sunset lapped at the top of the horizon. The deer stood, eating from a bush. It raised its head as it heard another deer call out. Tentatively, it took a step forward, away from the bush and out into the open. "Gotcha." It stopped for a second, before a bullet pierced its neck and threw it to the ground. As it gasped for air through it's punctured throat, it saw a tall man walk into view; glistening white hair and rugged, worn face.

He knelt down next to his kill and pulled a small knife from a holster on his left side. Once he saw the pulse in the deer's neck slow to a dull and eventually lifeless pace, he grabbed the flesh from the chest, plunged the knife in **,** and began to skin the deer.

"I know you're there," he said, "I saw you coming over the ridge twenty minutes ago. You kryptonians aren't exactly stealthy, even with a member of the bat-clan with you."

"Hello Slade" Superman said, "I'd like to have a little talk with you."

"Do you now?" Slade replied, "What could you, of all people, possibly want with me?"

"We have a proposition for you" Superman said.

"You're joking, right?" Slade laughed, "you're supposed to fight against people like me, not alongside us."

"We need someone of your expertise" Robin said. Slade let out a small chuckle.

"I already know what you want me for, you want me to take out the Bat."

"Glad to know we're on the same page," Superman said, "so will you help us?"

"I don't think you can afford me on a reporter's salary, Kent" Slade smirked.

"Actually," Robin said, "I'm paying for this one." Slade looked momentarily surprised, then let out a short but loud laugh.

"You're telling me that Wayne is gonna pay for a hit on himself?"

"We don't want him dead, Slade" Superman put his hand on his hips. Slade's smile diminished considerably. "We want him outmanoeuvred, outthought and outmatched."

"So this is a _non-lethal_ coup?" said Slade. Superman nodded.

"Precisely."

 **Space Sector 1849. Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and Doctor Fate are searching for the only being in the universe who has the power to help them.**

"Fate, we've been searching for weeks now. How can we not have found him?" Wonder Woman said.

"Patience, Princess," Fate said, trying not to lose his concentration in keeping them floating through space, "we're close now."

"It is unusual for him to stray so far away from his space sector, even if he no longer sports a Green Lantern ring" Martian Manhunter said.

"What Kyle Rayner does outside of the league's business is within his privacy and we should respect that. We wouldn't be doing this if we had any other choice" Fate said.

"Are you sure he's our only option?" Wonder Woman said.

"He's the only one I know of who currently possesses this power" Fate replied, "If we want to do this, we must have the power of a White Lantern on our side."


	11. Chapter 11: Fanning The Flames

_A/N: Apologies for the very long wait between chapters, I've had to do some university work over the summer and that took away a lot of my time. Now that's done I can get down and hopefully finish this before term starts in October. Do give me a message or a review to let me know what you think! Enjoy!_

 **Midway City. OMHR Agents are arresting non-registered Justice League members who attempted to break up a protest outside a government office building.**

The protesters were absolutely dominating the area. Hundreds of people camped outside an OMHR building in the centre of the city. Bricks and debris was being thrown through windows, banners were being held everywhere. Two costumed men stood outside the door trying to dampen down the uproar.

"People please! This isn't the way to go about making complaints" Blue Beetle said, avoiding all manner of things being thrown at him. "I didn't want this to happen as well, if those of us who are against registration want to get something done we need to do it legally!"

"How?" One of the protesters said, "They have control over everything!"

"We'll find a way. They haven't got everything covered" Booster Gold said.

"They've covered enough! You're breaking the law just by being here!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Everyone looked around to see Captain Atom hovering behind them. Underneath him followed a squadron of US National Guard soldiers.

"Hey there Nate. Let's not make this worse than it is." Blue Beetle replied.

"Sure, just come along with me and we'll say no m…" Captain Atom was hit in the face with a brick.

"We don't want you here!" A protester shouted, "you're part of the problem."

"Sir, we're just trying to help you." Atom replied.

"With guns pointed at us?" A female protester said.

"She has a point, Cap" Blue Beetle said.

"These are my orders, I gotta follow them" Atom put his hands on his hips as he flew down to meet Blue Beetle and Booster Gold.

"Well you better tell your boss that his pointy eared cowl might be on a bit too tight, because the Batman I knew would never aim guns at civilians." Booster Gold said, pushing his finger into Captain Atom's chest.

"Maybe you never knew Bruce at all." Atom replied, flicking Booster Gold's hand away and landing a clean right cross to his face.

"I'm starting to think you're right" Booster Gold said, wiping his bleeding nose.

"However," Blue Beetle stepped in putting his hand on Atom's shoulder, "One thing that hasn't changed is that to take down Bruce, you have to out-think him." Captain Atom suddenly heard a small beeping. He looked at his shoulder to see a small device slowly pulsing faster. He sensed that it was slightly irradiated and he immediately flew backwards away from the crowd.

"This is Captain Atom to all points. Code Red. Blue Beetle and Booster Gold have engaged me and…" Atom screamed as the device exploded. Wounded, he used all the energy he could muster to absorb the radiation.

"That'll take him some time but he's called backup, time to call ours" Blue Beetle said to Booster Gold. Booster Gold pressed a button on his wrist. A small robot flew out from his back.

"How may I help sir?" The robot said.

"Make the call, Skeets" Booster Gold said. Blue Beetle stopped focussing on Captain Atom and turned his attentions back to the crowd.

"Get out of here, people. It's not going to be pretty."

"Hey, Blue" Booster Gold said, "Why haven't the soldiers fired at us yet?"

"Maybe Bruce hasn't changed that much?" He replied. Meanwhile Captain Atom had just absorbed the last of the radiation.

"You're gonna pay for that" he said. He flew down to the ground and turned to his troops. "Make a perimeter, I don't want any civilians within a 2 block radius." As the soldiers fanned out, Atom saw a black vehicle heading towards them. Just as it came within the perimeter, it drifted to the side and its roof opened. Leaping out were Green Arrow and Black Canary, who landed either side of Captain Atom. As the car screeched to a halt, the driver's door opened and out stepped a casual Nightwing.

"I was hoping we'd find you two fellas sooner or later" he said, sauntering over toward them, "I've missed you guys" he welcomingly held his arms out as he stood just in front of Captain Atom.

"Once this is over, Dick, we'll go grab a drink together" Booster Gold said.

" _This?_ " Nightwing replied, " _This_ doesn't need to happen. You can come with us, register and we'll all be fine."

"And if we don't?" Blue Beetle said.

"Well, we're gonna take you with us anyway, but you'll have a bit more than a broken nose…" Nightwing gave a disappointed frown as he pulled out his escrima sticks. Green Arrow drew his bow ready, whilst Black Canary cracked her knuckles.

"Is that so?" Blue Beetle said, smirking. Suddenly, a rift of wind came from behind Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Appearing behind them was Flash, closely followed in the air by Guy Gardner, Robin and Deathstroke. Blue Beetle looked around at his team and turned back to Nightwing. "I'm afraid mine are bigger than yours."

"5 points for a dick joke, but its minus 50 for getting your ass kicked." Nightwing leapt into action followed by Arrow, Canary and Atom. Atom went straight for Booster Gold and Blue Beetle but Flash zipped in behind and grabbed Atom's foot, throwing backwards and smashing him into Nightwing's car. Booster Gold followed Flash, while Arrow and Canary advanced on Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner. Nightwing made a deadline for Robin. As he drew nearer, Robin pulled out two sharpened batarangs, but Deathstroke stepped in front of him, drawing his sword.

"Let the big boys play, boy" He said, huffing at Robin as he advanced on Nightwing.

"Happy to take you down, Slade. Didn't think Supes was that desperate?" The two of them started to circle each other like hawks.

"I'll take any chance to take on your boss, especially after the shit he's been pulling" Deathstroke pressed a button on his helmet and his visor arched down over his face. Nightwing made the first move, swiftly jabbing the electrified end of his escrima stick towards Deathstroke who parried it and went in for a countering lunge. Dodging out of the way, Nightwing backhanded Deathstroke on the head and threw a batarang at Robin, who caught it mid-air.

Meanwhile, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were proving too much for Captain Atom to handle. They were relentless, energy blast after energy blast.

"You can't win, Cap" Booster Gold said, dodging a wild punch.

"Really? A scientist and a model against a United States soldier with complete control over his atomic structure… sure you've got this in the bag" Atom replied. Booster Gold threw a punch himself, but Captain Atom caught it. He smirked as Booster Gold screamed out in pain. Captain Atom's hand started to glow and smoke began to rise.

"Get off of him!" Blue Beetle shouted, tackling Captain Atom to the ground. Booster Gold fell to the floor, holding the clump of melted flesh at the end of his right arm. Blue Beetle raised his arm, morphing it into a large battering ram and slugged Captain Atom over the head with it, knocking him out. He dropped him onto the concrete.

"Jesus, Nate" he sighed.

Back with Nightwing, he was being horribly outmatched, forcing him to change his tactics. As Deathstroke came in for an attack, Nightwing knew that he couldn't match the force so he dodged away towards Robin and parried his weaker attacks.

"You can't outrun me, boy" Deathstroke said, spinning his sword. "Robin, manoeuvre 24B." Robin was surprised that Deathstroke knew about the League of Assassins' training regimes, but gave a nod. The two of them retreated momentarily, before closing in together and attempting to corner Nightwing up against the battle between Guy Gardner and Black Canary. Robin attacked Nightwing's legs while Deathstroke swung his sword at Nightwing's head. Nightwing pulled both his feet up and tucked his head into his chest to dodge both attacks simultaneously. Kicking Robin away before he landed, he sprung up and flipped onto Deathstroke and pushed himself backwards, sending Deathstroke in the opposite direction. As he flipped backwards, he spun around and landed a mid-air roundhouse kick to the face of an unsuspecting Guy Gardner. Gardner swore under his breath, and shot a pulse of rage energy towards Black Canary knocking her backwards, before turning his attentions to Nightwing.

"Let's move it, people" Blue Beetle said, "Booster's going to need serious medical attention. Let's not add another person to that list." Deathstroke and Robin immediately sheathed their weapons and turned away from the battle Guy Gardner grit his teeth and growled at Nightwing. He didn't break eye contact as he moved towards the teleport opened up by Booster Gold. Green Arrow fired an arrow at the teleport. Guy parried it away, still not breaking eye contact. He stepped through and the rift closed behind him.

Nightwing turned off his escrima sticks and put them away.

"Shit."


	12. Chapter 12: Retaliation

_A/N: We're about halfway through what I would say is Act 2. This is becoming a damn sight longer than I originally expected! Enjoy!_

 **Space Sector 2814. The Moon.**

 _You are strong, Guy Gardner. Your rage is powerful._

Atrocitus' voice rang through Guy's head. He sat, cross-legged, floating above the moon's surface. The dark side of the moon was one of the only places the Watchtower had trouble monitoring.

 _Let the rage engulf you. You work with those who seek peace. Peace is your enemy!_ Guy's eyes started to glow red.

 _Strike at the heart of your enemy and light the fires of war!_ Guy smiled. It was time.

 **Bruce Wayne's Office. Wayne Enterprises. Gotham.**

"That's fine," Bruce said, "But I want it done by Monday."

"Agreed" Waller said, "I've also started making the arrangements necessary for Jason Todd's release. I think he could be of use to us, under your guidance, of course." Bruce looked quietly surprised. It was very rare that Waller did anything considered to be _human_ , even rarer for it to be an act of generosity.

"Does Jason know about this?"

"He's aware he's being released. That's all for now."

"Thank you, Amanda. I…" Bruce's cell phone started to beep. He looked at the screen and saw a red bat flashing on the screen. "Sorry, I need to take this." He walked over to his desk. Alfred's voice came through the earpiece Bruce was secretly wearing.

"Sir, as you can see, we've got a priority Beta breach in the Cave."

"Can you see what it is?" Bruce replied. Waller looked surprised.

"Can I what?" She said.

"I'm not talking to you" Bruce tapped his ear.

"It's still in the outer caverns, sir, but the security systems are reporting that it's moving towards the centre" Alfred said. "Rather erratically I must say."

"Alfred fire up the Alpha defences" Bruce said.

"Right away, sir. I'm reading that the sensors in sector 4 are down."

"Get out of there, Alfred. Now!"

"Sector 5 now. 3. 6. 2." Bruce ran to the telecom on the wall by the door. He set the frequency to 'JL'.

"This is Batman to all points. Anyone who can hear this get to the Batcave. NOW!" Bruce ran over to the other side of the room, frantically darting around the coffee table and nearly shoving over Waller.

"What is going on, Bruce?" She said.

"My family is under attack." Bruce pulled two books off of the shelf and placed his hand on the scanner. A trap door appeared under the coffee table. Waller had to take a step backwards to avoid falling through it.

As he made his way through the passage that took him straight to the cave, the built in mechanisms started to affix the batsuit armour around his body.

The compartment finally stopped and the ejector seat threw him forwards. Steadying himself against the Batmobile, he turned towards the Bat-computer. All he could see was carnage. Red energy was passing around everywhere.

Bruce ran towards the action, shooting a grapnel hook up into the rafters and pulled himself up. He released the grapnel at the top and opened up his cape to glide down. Suddenly a piece of debris took him out in mid-air. As he landed, he felt something cushion his fall. He groaned as he sat up and looked at what he had landed on. He jumped back, instantly forgetting everything else around him and he stared at Alfred's body, laying on the floor, bloodied and broken. As he sat there, everything about Alfred raced through his mind. This man had raised him, built him back up after his parents were murdered, and now he was gone. A soft laughing came from behind him. Bruce turned to see Guy Gardner, but this was not Guy Gardner as he knew him. Guy's eyes had turned completely red, he was twitching and red acid-like liquid was slowly spilling out of his mouth.

"Let's go, Bruce" Guy held his arms wide invitingly. Bruce pressed buttons on both his gauntlets and they electrified. He stood up and pounded his fists together, sending sparks flying. Guy laughed and surrounded his fists with red rage energy. He swung a punch at Bruce who parried and sent a countering jab back. Bruce kept his distance, pacing around Gardner who was becoming increasingly feral. Guy lunged forward, with Bruce side-stepping him and kicking him in the gut.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to me?" Bruce said, calmly. "Any idea what you've taken from me?" Guy's eyes started glowing brighter. "You're letting that ring fog your brain because you're not normally dumb enough to take me on."

"This war was getting boring. I'm setting it on FIRE!" The red acid coming from Guy's mouth sprayed as he spoke. Bruce grit his teeth.

"Fine. Let's do it your way." He lunged at Guy, who swung a left-right combo. Both were dodged by Bruce, who utilised an elbow block and body jab. Bruce was desperately resisting the urge to use more force. Everything he was taught, everything he believed told him that holding back would be the right thing to do, but the man who taught him a sizeable part of that was killed by them man he was fighting. A man who, although he never knew him closely, was considered a teammate.

Guy's punches became more ferocious. Unlike Bruce, who was keeping his distance and only landing hits as a deterrent, Guy was putting weight behind his attacks and aiming for Bruce's critical areas.

"You're holding back, Bruce" Guy laughed, "Let loose! I want you to really feel it. Feel your anger. Embrace it." Bruce dodged a left jab but missed the following right cross. Fuelled by the rage energy emitting from his ring, the force of the blow shattered the right side of Bruce's mask. Guy sarcastically winced as Bruce stumbled back. "Didn't mean to break your toy, Bruce." Bruce sighed.

"It's not the _toys_ you have to beat." He pressed a button on the back of his head. Mechanisms in his head whirred but didn't move. "Ever since I took this mask off to the world I thought it would all be a little easier to understand." He pressed a button on his cowl. Once again his cowl's opening mechanism fizzed but didn't move. Guy tilted his head like a confused dog. "But what you criminals never seem to understand is that…" Bruce raised his hand, gripped the underside of the bent armour and tore the mask off completely. "Sure I've got my gear, my suits. Even Alfred. But even if you take that all away…" He took off his gauntlets and unhooked his cape. "You know damn well you don't come anywhere close to beating me."

"Prove it, big guy!" Guy laughed, although a small tremor in his voice made Guy seem less confident that he wanted to.

Bruce walked towards Guy. He threw a left hook and as it landed, spun around and elbowed Guy in the temple. Dazed and angry, guy shook it off and spat at him. Shielding his face from the acid, he turned away and kicked guy in the stomach, buckling him onto one knee. Winded, he threw a wild punch that Bruce caught. He reached back, balling his fist, but as he did, a crash came from behind him as Green Lantern, Nightwing and Cyborg came in through the debris around the cave entrance.

"Oh Christ" Nightwing said, running over to Alfred's body. Green Lantern walked over to Bruce and smirked at Guy.

"Glad to see you're back on this planet, Guy." Bruce scowled at him. Green Lantern sensed that he was being a bit indelicate.

"You're going to need a Blue Lantern, Hal" Bruce said. Guy instantly tensed up, gripping Bruce's fist, still clasped around Guy's other hand. "What are you without _your_ toys, Guy? Still just a criminal."

"I'll take it from here, Bruce. Don't worry" Hal said. He encased Guy in chains from his ring and flew him back out the cave mouth.

"You need any help, Bruce?" Cyborg said.

"No, you can go now" Bruce replied. "Dick, you can stay." As Cyborg followed Green Lantern out of the cave, Bruce sat down. He exhaled loudly, completely emptying his lungs. Calm fell over the two of them. Nightwing came and sat down next to Bruce.

"First Tim, now Alfred" Nightwing said, "I don't think I can handle much more."

"You won't have to" Bruce replied, "I'm ending this. Now."


	13. Chapter 13: Alliances Tested

**Gotham City. The Financial District. After the funeral of Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne is contemplating past events whilst out on patrol.**

This was not the situation Bruce had anticipated himself in 6 months ago. With almost all the computers and facilities destroyed or damaged, the Batcave was unrecognisable. Worse still, Bruce had never felt so unequipped.

He stood on top of a crane, looking down at the building site below. Intel from the Homeland Security (whose meetings Bruce was now privy to) had mentioned that Penguin's weapons deals happened in this area. _We may be in at war, but the mission hasn't changed._ Having arrived 3 hours, Bruce was relieved to see an unmarked jet-black car drive into the site and park side-on against one of the walls of the building. _Nice to see the intel isn't bad._ He didn't recognise the first man to step out of the vehicle. The man was wearing tactical gear, reminiscent of a private militia soldier. Lack of an insignia on the uniform clouded the matter further. Had the tech in the Batcave been working, facial recognition would've solved the problem.

After another half-hour, an unmarked van, followed by two cars pulled into the site. From their van stepped out 3 members of Penguin's crew. The door from one of the cars swung open and another man, well dressed stepped out and went over to the passenger side. As he held the door open, Penguin stepped out into the open. Bruce pressed a button on his cowl and pulled out a small microphone from his belt. He attached it to the end of his finger and pointed it at the meeting.

"Fan out, lads" Penguin said, "I don't want any interruptions." Accompanied by his men, Penguin ventured forward towards the middle of the site. On the other side, the unknown militia soldier walked to meet him.

"Good evening, Mr Cobblepot" the soldier said, "my employer would like to thank you for meeting with us on such short notice."

"Well, when your _employer_ makes an offer like this, pretty hard to refuse" Penguin replied, "however, you could tell 'im to get out of the car and talk to me face to face?"

"I'm afraid due to the nature of this deal, they wish to remain anonymous. Your discretion is appreciated." The solder gave a polite but obviously forced smile. Penguin, on the other hand, did not.

"I don't do business with a man without looking him in the eye." Penguin folded his arms.

"This time you will." The soldier said sternly.

"Really?" Penguin laughed, "Well I'd love to know how you plan to make me." The solder looked down and smiled.

"My client knew you would react like this. I was instructed to tell you, in the event of your resistance to do business on our terms, that your routes into Gotham through the southeast freeway would no longer be overlooked by the authorities presiding over that area." Penguin raised an eyebrow and took a puff of his cigar. "You will also no longer be held in high favour with those who run the Docks, and any shipments bearing your fingerprints will be destroyed or handed over to the police."

"Is that so?" Penguin raised a hand and three of his men turned their weapons towards the soldier. "You don't get to threaten me and live to talk about it, boy." The soldier smiled again and raised his hand. Suddenly several red dots appeared over Penguins chest.

"It would be in your best interests, Mr Cobblepot, to continue to stay within my client's favour. I would suggest you reconsider your position." Penguin sighed.

"Show him the merchandise" he said, waving towards the van behind him. Two guards together carried a long military case from the van, towards Penguin and the soldier.

"Open it" the soldier said. The two guards popped the lock and lifted the lid.

"ARC140. 30 calibre bullets. Holds 4 rounds before reload. I've seen people take out the driver of a moving car from 800 yards with this."

"What's the set-up time?" the soldier asked, examining the barrel.

"Well, a trained marksman such as yourself could get this unpacked, built and ready to fire in about 6 seconds. Pack-up time's slightly shorter, helpful for you if you're taking out Bruce Wayne, you'll want to do a runner pretty bloody quickly." Batman immediately put his microphone away and leapt off the crane. Just as the soldier and Penguin were about to shake hands, Batman landed next to them.

"Bollocks" Penguin shouted, "What is he doing here?" As Penguin's men raised their guns to fire, Batman reached to his belt and threw out a series of magnetic devices. The coin-shaped devices latched onto the guns and immediately sent through an electric charge, causing the men to drop the them in pain. As the guns hit the ground, the devices then exploded, shattering the guns and rendering them useless.

Meanwhile, Batman had turned his attention to Penguin and the soldier. Penguin had stepped backwards towards his car, while the solder remained as he was. Batman examined the man standing in front of him. A closer look than before allowed sight of a tattoo of a magpie across the soldier's neck.

"Good evening, Mr Wayne" the soldier said. "I trust you heard most of this conversation on that crane?" He pointed to the crane Batman had been perched on.

"Who are you?" Batman replied.

"No one of interest to you, I assure you." As Batman walked towards the solider, he felt a very sudden and very hard thump that hit the back of his head with such force that it made him buckle onto one knee. Dazed, he looked up to see an escrima stick rolling away. He stood up and slowly turned around to see Robin standing there. But it wasn't Robin. Damian had considerably altered his suit since the last time he saw his father. The cape had gone, as had the Robin symbol on his chest. The red of the suit had been significantly darkened to the point that it resembled wine or blood. Long sharp blades curved out of his forearms and the shiny armoured-plating glistened in the streetlights.

"Hello Father" he said.

"Damian what are you…" Batman stopped speaking as heard the sound of the soldier's car screeching away. He turned away from Robin to follow the car, but was swiftly stopped as he felt something sharp press against his neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" another voice said. Batman looked down and recognised the orange plates on the gloves holding the sword.

"Hello Slade" he said. "What brings you out of retirement?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" Slade replied. The sword moved away from Batman's neck. "Turn around." Bruce turned to see Slade in full Deathstroke uniform with Damian standing next to him.

"You can come quietly, Father, or we can drag you. Either way, you're coming with us." Damian said, folding his arms. Batman sighed.

"Is this what it's come to?" He said, "My own son actively fighting against me?"

"Don't forget about me, rich boy" Slade said. "I want a piece of this too." Batman took a step back and moved into a defensive stance.

"You're very welcome to try." Slade and Robin both leapt towards him. Dodging both their attacks simultaneously, Batman parried Slade's stronger second attack, while Damian's follow up missed. As Slade stumbled back, Damien moved forward and aimed a cartwheel kick towards Batman's head. Stepping back, Batman grabbed Damian's leg and pushed it, overpowering Damian's momentum and throwing him to the floor.

Hearing the scrape of the sword against the floor, Batman turned once again to see Slade leaping at him with his sword. Parrying multiple swings with his gauntlets, Batman fended off Slade's ferocious attack until he sidestepped and caught the sword between the blades on his gauntlet. Bringing up his other arm, he used the blades to snap the sword in half. Deathstroke retreated back, looked at the blunted weapon in his hand and threw it to the ground. Batman wiped the sweat from his cheek as he turned to glance at Damian. Hearing Deathstroke's footsteps behind him, Batman darted looks between the two of them as they circled around him.

Damian paced around his father.

"Move 21b" he said, as both he and Deathstroke lunged at Batman once again. This time they were much more co-ordinated. This time the heavy attacks were coming from Damian. While Slade was stepping in to take the return blows, Damian was already gaining momentum for his next move. Blow after blow, Batman was slowly starting to wane. He was taking too much damage to last much longer. Suddenly, he started to notice a weakness. The more blows he took, the more ferocious and wild Damian's attacks were becoming. Just as the right moment came, Damian telegraphed his kick, which Batman caught and parried towards Deathstroke. He reached into his belt and threw down several smoke pellets. As the thick cloud spread around him, he shot a grapnel hook behind him and pressed the retract button, pulling him inside the half-finished building and into the shadows.

He took a few seconds to compose himself then pressed a button on his cowl and a small fragment of metal came out from the side and covered his nose and mouth.

"He's not showing up on thermal vision" Damian said.

"That's impossible, even in the mud, your tech is too sensitive for him to avoid it" Deathstroke replied. Damian smirked.

"This is my _father_ we're talking about"


End file.
